Charles Barkley: LeBron James should join TNT’s playoff coverage

The Los Angeles Lakers have been all but eliminated from postseason contention, so Charles Barkley came up with a great idea: Have LeBron James join the “Inside the NBA” crew for the playoffs.

James almost certainly will be a spectator for the NBA postseason for the first time since the 2004-05 season — Basketball Reference is no longer even giving the Lakers odds at this point — ending a remarkable 14-year run.

The way Barkley sees it, with James sitting out the postseason — while disappointing, even stunning — why not have the superstar occupy his down time by doing some analyst work on television?

Barkley extended the invitation to James during Thursday night’s TNT coverage of NBA action.

Barkley has long argued that the Lakers would not be a force to be reckoned with during the first season of the LeBron James era in L.A., so his whimsical invite certainly provided the outspoken and outrageous analyst a forum to gloat over his prediction coming to fruition.

It’s clear that Barkley’s invite is more a joke than anything else and that no one really expects The King to grace the gang with his presence … not that it wouldn’t make for enthralling television.